Once the domain of the military, unmanned aerial vehicles — or “drones” — have seemingly endless uses today off the battlefield. They’re being used by real estate agents to take aerial images of properties, farmers to fly over crops to help spot infestations or disease, and police to help locate stranded or missing people.

But as the commercial and recreational uses of these remote-controlled “eyes in the sky” have grown, so too have reports of near-collisions with larger aircraft and other mishaps, raising questions about whether Canada is doing enough to regulate them.

The consequences could be “catastrophic” if one of these drones gets sucked into the engine of a commercial jet, said Joe Barnsley, an aviation lawyer in Winnipeg.

“The government needs to have this as a real priority,” he said. “Hopefully there won’t be a tragic incident that will move it up on the radar.”

Drones come in different forms. Some are small fixed-wing aircraft, while others are rotor-based, resembling mini-helicopters. They can cost a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Transport Canada regulations require that drone operators whose aircraft weigh more than 35 kilograms or whose aircraft are being used for commercial purposes apply for a special flight operations certificate. They must provide details of the purpose of the operation, the altitudes and routes they plan to use, and show there are no hazards to people or property.

In 2011, Transport Canada issued 155 such certificates. In 2013, they handed out 945.

Drone operators who fly aircraft less than 35 kilograms and for recreational purposes are exempt from these rules. The only rule that applies to them is one that says not to fly into clouds or “in a manner that is or is likely to be hazardous to aviation safety.”

Barnsley said there ought to be more explicit rules that limit how high drones can fly and that require aircraft to remain in the line of sight at all times. Otherwise, he said, you end up with a “Wild West scenario where things are falling out of the sky and bashing into each other and into people and property.”

On Saturday, multiple pilots flying into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport reported seeing a drone in the area. As a result, they had to divert their planes to a different runway, according to an incident report posted on the Transport Canada website. Toronto police have not been able to locate the operator and continue to investigate.

On June 30, a pilot for B.C.-based KD Air Corp. flew out of the Vancouver International Airport when he reported a “near miss” with an unmanned aerial vehicle at about 579 metres in the air. The pilot was forced to climb up to avoid the drone and estimated the vertical distance between him and the drone was less than 30 metres, according to the Transport Canada website.

“Little remote-controlled airplanes, yeah they can cause some damage,” said KD Air owner Lars Banke. “Regulation is definitely behind.”

A video shot from a drone and posted on YouTube last November showing a commercial airliner coming in for a landing at the Vancouver airport sparked similar concerns from authorities and hobbyists who said the drone was too close to the airport.

In fact, the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada appealed to its members to try to identify the person who was operating the drone, said Claude Melbourne, the association’s president.

Drones have no business being within eight kilometres of an airport and the association encourages its members to restrict their flying to one of 300 flying fields “sanctioned” by the association, Melbourne said.

“We’re not happy as an organization to see these kinds of reports of these things flying close to airports. We’re putting out the word to our members that if you see something like this to report it to the authorities,” he said.

The person who shot the video, identified online as “Quadrotor Dragonfly,” subsequently wrote a column on his YouTube site saying that his aircraft was flying more than a kilometre away from the edge of the airport and could not have been in anyone’s flight path. “There was no danger to civil aviation,” he wrote.

The RCMP and Transport Canada opened investigations into both incidents but have so far been unable to locate the operators.

Drone incidents that come to the attention of Transport Canada are not always related to airports. In May, a drone being used to film a commercial in downtown Vancouver struck a building and fell to the ground. Last August, an Ontario Provincial Police drone taking part in an investigation lost a motor arm as it climbed and crashed to the ground. No one was hurt in either incident.

Transport Canada “will not hesitate” to go after drone operators who violate regulations or the terms of their operating certificates, said spokeswoman Roxane Marchand. The maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine for an individual or $25,000 for a corporation.

Cam Kowalski, an RCMP sergeant in B.C. who sits on the aviation safety committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the committee is currently dealing with the problem of people who point lasers at aircraft but anticipates that it will turn its attention to how to better regulate drones in the near future.

“They just keep getting stronger, cheaper, and they can go to any altitudes — it’s going to be the new problem on the horizon,” he said.

The fact that drones can be equipped with high-tech cameras with powerful zoom lenses, night vision and other imaging equipment is also raising privacy concerns.

Last year, a report by the federal privacy commissioner stated that it was not inconceivable that drones could be used to serve more “off-putting” purposes, “such as for paparazzi photographers or industrial espionage.”

Drones present “unique privacy challenges,” the report said. Because they are not fixed in a specific location, they can track someone’s activities or patterns of movement over time. “UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) enable surveillance that is surreptitious, cheap, efficient, persistent and agile.”

dquan(at)postmedia.com

Twitter.com/dougquan

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Soaring to new heights

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming smaller and cheaper and more accessible. Here’s a snapshot of some of their current and possible future uses:

Real Estate: Drones are being used by realtors to give potential buyers a bird’s-eye view of properties.

Athletics: Sports teams are using drones to film their practices and to get cool publicity images. They were used to film skiers and snowboarders at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Journalism: Newsrooms are exploring the use of drones to help provide coverage of natural disasters, floods and wildfires.

Law enforcement: Last year, RCMP in Saskatchewan credited a drone with helping them find an injured man who had wandered away from his car after a crash. Police say drones can also be used for accident reconstruction.

Farming: Drones can help farmers monitor the health of their crops and identify irrigation problems.

Product delivery: Last December, online retailer Amazon said it was testing the use of drones to deliver packages to customers. Domino’s has experimented with the idea of delivering pizzas using drones.

Dog walking: Earlier this year, Jeff Myers, a New York videographer, posted a video that went viral showing how he had used a drone to walk his golden retriever around the neighbourhood.